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    Uki-gatame

    浮固 · うきがため · floating hold · said OO-kee gah-TAH-meh

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    Demonstrations

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    The osaekomi clock

    Scores yuko at five seconds, waza-ari at ten and ippon at twenty, which ends the contest.

    Sport and Organisation Rules of the International Judo Federation: refereeing rules, 2026 edition, Article 7.

    About this technique

    The floating hold: tori kneels at uke's side, controls the near arm and pins the upper body with the chest and shoulder while carrying their own weight on knees and feet rather than lying on uke. Added to the Kodokan's hold-downs alongside Ura-gatame, and familiar as the control position from which Juji-gatame is set up.

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    A technique to hold down the opponent’s upper body with the right leg by holding his right arm with one of the arms or both from the right side of the opponent lying on his back and stretching the left leg backward.
    The Kodokan's definition

    Key points

    1. Weight on your knees and feet, not resting on them
    2. Trap the near arm and keep their shoulders flat
    3. Stay upright: the float is what makes it mobile

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    grappling techniques

    At a glance

    , classification, Gokyo set, Kodokan number, contest rules, grades that require it
    What it is
    Katame-waza (grappling techniques).
    Kodokan number
    609 (UGT).
    Contest rules
    No rule singles it out.
    Osaekomi clock
    Scores yuko at five seconds, waza-ari at ten and ippon at twenty, which ends the contest.
    Required for

    Step by step

    These steps describe the standard right-handed form without relying on the video.

    1. Your partner is on their back and you are kneeling at their right side, facing across them.
    2. Trap their right arm between your knees or against your body so their near shoulder cannot turn away.
    3. Place your chest and shoulder across their upper body, keeping your hips high and your weight over your own base.
    4. Post your left hand or foot wide on the far side so you cannot be rolled towards it.
    5. Hold their shoulders to the mat while staying light enough to move; the hold counts while their back is controlled.

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    Receiving it

    Unlike the heavier holds, this one does not lie on you: your partner is above rather than across, and the pressure comes through one shoulder and their control of your near arm. Free the trapped arm first, since everything else follows it, and bridge towards the side where they are not posting. Tap if an arm starts to be isolated and straightened.

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    VI judo notes

    This hold keeps your weight on your own base, which leaves you less contact to read them by, so make it up elsewhere: their arm trapped between your knees, your chest across their shoulders, a hand or foot posted wide against a roll. It is also where juji-gatame is set up from, so being able to find and keep it by feel is worth the drilling.

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    In competition

    , how often it scores at IJF level, and two contests where it worked

    Senior IJF competition, 2020 to 2026, from 73,099 contests. Counts scores, not attempts.

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    In combinations, counters and transitions

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    None recorded yet. Nobody has written down a counter to Uki-gatame, or a combination it belongs to. You can suggest one.

    Reference pages elsewhere

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